Invest Atlanta’s Urban Residential Finance Authority gave preliminary approval Thursday to finance a multifamily, mixed-income apartment tower at the city’s historic Underground Atlanta shopping and entertainment district in the Five Points neighborhood.
It was among more than a dozen affordable housing developments the Invest Atlanta board considered at a morning meeting, which Mayor Andre Dickens chaired. He said a total of 1,668 affordable housing units had received preliminary approval by the board.
“From Day One, my administration has committed itself to addressing housing affordability holistically — from homelessness to homeownership,” Dickens said in a statement. “I commend the Invest Atlanta board and staff for continuing to tackle this challenge head-on by approving another significant investment in housing that will benefit Atlantans for generations to come.”
The approval of the first phase of the Underground Atlanta project is a first step in what could be a lengthy process, according to developers. It signals the board’s intention to issue a loan of tax-exempt financing of up to $40 million.
The apartment tower will feature 163 affordable housing units at 60% or below the area median income. For a one-person household, this amounts to an income limit of $45,180 a year, or $51,600 for a two-person household, according to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development data for the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell area.
Developers say the tower will have studio apartments priced at $971, one-bedrooms priced at $1,052, and two-bedrooms at $1,225.
Developers Exact Capital Group and Lalani Ventures, which owns Underground Atlanta, are partnering on the project. Their redevelopment plan features mixed-income housing, student housing, art incubators, retail, and public spaces, according to an Invest Atlanta fact sheet. Lalani Ventures says the redevelopment spans four million square feet.
“This is a big step forward, but there’s a long way to go,” CEO Shaneel Lalani told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shortly after the board gave its approval. “It’s a complicated piece of property. It takes time, vision, and patience to see a development of this caliber come through.”
Exact Capital managing partner Craig Livingston noted the tower’s proximity to the MARTA Five Points station.
“There is a plethora of jobs in the immediate vicinity, and so we hope that this really ignites downtown development,” Livingston said.
Developers will next see if the Georgia Department of Community Affairs grants the project tax credits. Livingston said he expects the project to go back to the Invest Atlanta board for final approval in 2025. Developers plan to complete the first phase of the project in 2027, according to Invest Atlanta.
Credit: Lalani Ventures
Credit: Lalani Ventures
Another affordable housing development, the Sweet Auburn Grande, received a $28.3 million tax-exempt loan to preserve 109 units at a building that was once the site of the Atlanta State Savings Bank — the city’s first Black-owned bank.
Additionally, the board gave final approval to Cosby Spear Highrise. A $49.5 million tax-exempt loan will fund the rehabilitation of 282 senior housing units in the 50-year-old property. Atlanta Housing will offer a rental subsidy so residents will not pay more than 30% of their income on rent.
At the meeting, Dickens asked how developers intended to manage and relocate tenants at the complex. Columbia Residential, which has partnered with Atlanta Housing, said it had created an in-house entity called Dash and Dwell to help tenants.
Dash and Dwell relocation project manager Phillip West said it had given residents the opportunity to choose where they will live during the relocation period, and they would have the chance to return to the rehabbed property once the work was done. He said the company was helping residents apply to new units and was giving them bimonthly updates about construction timelines.
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